The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
Humans are social beings. Humans form groups to exchange ideas, share and pool resources, find support from and interact with like-minded people, and so forth. The rise of information networks such as the Internet has facilitated the ability for people to connect and organize with others for many different and diverse purposes. Some examples include business, social, political, and academic purposes, and many others. There are groups discussing everything from military encryption to freshwater fossils. Typically, what a group has in common is some shared interest among the members.
It is, however, difficult and time-consuming to sort through the vast trove of information that is available on an information network in order to find things of interest. For example, companies are increasingly global where employees are now located in many different countries and cities. With such a diverse work force, it can be difficult for a user, such as an employee to find resources such as other employees, groups, documents, reports, findings, presentations, and so forth which may be of interest.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide new and improved techniques to provide things that may be of interest to a user or a group of users.